Happy Summer to you, reader!
It has been two months since my post, “Rest Is Not a Setback;” the reason for this is a combination of busyness as a preschool teacher with the school year swiftly coming to an end, vacations, and not yet clear on what the Lord was wanting my next post to be. Reader, please know when I post I do not want it to ever be from a place where I am not writing with the Holy Spirit’s guidance. My desire is for all who read my post takeaway what the Lord is wanting them to know from the Bible. With that said, the school year is now complete and vacations are over, and now, the Lord has opened my eyes to my next post, which is actually the first in my new blog series where we will explore biblical character qualities sisters-in-Christ should seek in a man they are prayerfully considering for marriage.
I shared in my post, “Rejoice in Change” how I am married to my incredible, godly husband. My husband and I recently celebrated our first wedding anniversary. I am grateful the Lord blessed me with such a sweet, loving, wise, funny, and handsome husband. In addition, I am grateful the Lord brought us together after a season of active waiting on the Lord. How did my husband and I meet? We met in a way that many couples (believers and non-believers) meet in the 21st century: online.
Even though many couples are meeting online, it does not mean this is a space the Lord is wanting you to enter. If you had told me in my early 20s that I would meet my husband online, I would have been in disbelief since I did not have any interest in online dating. Why? Because I did believe a person was taking matters into their own hands when they do so. I believed the Lord only brings two people together in-person. Maybe, you have similar feelings about online dating. Please do not try online dating, unless the Lord is nudging you to try!
Personally, it was not until my late 20s that the nudging to try online dating happened. As the Lord took me on a journey in learning the beauty in waiting on Him, He took me on a journey in seeing the truth about online dating, which is the Lord uses online dating as one of the ways He brings two of His children together. He used those close to me like my brother (who had begun online dating), and my mother to encourage me to give it a try.
Still, there was a hesitancy to try it because, for so long, I had been anti-online dating. I took time to talk to the Lord about it, and the final nudge was from Him. He prompted me to research the best online dating services for Christ followers. Through my research, He gave me peace as I read about the one I did join, and four years later, that is the online dating service I met my husband. Yet, how my husband and I met is only part of the story. Far more important than how we met is who we both were becoming in Christ in the waiting.
Maybe, you are in a place in your long wait journey for the desire for the man the Lord deems worthy of your heart where you are weary in the waiting. Weary because you tried all the in-person means (like small groups) to meet the man the Lord deems worthy of your heart. Weary because you have waited well. Weary because you have even tried online dating and nothing came of it. All of what you are feeling is understandable. Whatever you are feeling at this moment, please do not give up! Instead, go to the Lord with your feelings of weariness and await His direction. Perhaps the Lord may be inviting you to remain open to opportunities you previously dismissed, whether that is another co-ed small group, another opportunity to serve, or even exploring online dating if He gives you peace to do so.
In all decisions in our lives, we must seek the Lord about it first; Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). The Lord has been using different means to bring two people together in marriage since the beginning of creation, and thus, the method should not be our focus. As sisters-in-Christ, our focus must be on whether the man we are considering possesses the Christlike character necessary for a godly marriage. For the answer, we must first go to the One who created marriage. So, reader, in this blog series, we will shift our focus to character, exploring the biblical qualities sisters-in-Christ should look for in a man they are considering as a potential husband.
All Bible verses are from Holy Bible: English Standard Version